The Land of Fire and Iron

The Land of Fire and IronEquestria is gone, and what’s left is the lifeless shell of a world that once brimmed with life and harmony. That was a long time ago. Tens of thousands of years into Equestria’s future, the world has faced not one but 6 separate Apocalypse’s and is now barely holding onto the little life left on the planet. These are the end times; life itself has reached the brink of collapse as the world itself has been twisted into a sick and deadly image of itself. Everything out here can and will kill you, and everything out there wants you dead. Being a wastelander yourself, it is now up to you what the fate of this world shalt ultimately become, will you save it and restore life and hope to these barren lands? Will you finish it off, end the world’s suffering here and hasten its doomed and hopeless destined outcome? Will you simply let it be, hand off the responsibility of ultimate destiny to someone more worthy, and continue to live in this harsh unforgiving world unwilling to face the possibility of change? It is up to you the fate of this world, and by your actions you will choose what is to become of it. There is no correct path, only your path. This… is your story.

You find yourself at the south-eastern cross roads Way Station, a bland and depressing place just like most way stations but it’s still a shelter from the harsh world that is the wastes. Some of you have come here to escape your past. Some have come here to see whats in store for their present. Others just want to make a better future for themselves. Maybe you’re not even here by choice. Whatever your reason you have all been brought to this one location for a reason. Whatever that reason, fate has bound you all together in this hell hole. For what fate fate has in store for you though, it’s anyone’s guess.

The way station is divided into two sections, the living section and the metal works. The living section is a wretched place, the homes are made of rusted over bits of sheet metal that look as if they could fall over at any moment and some of them do. At the center of the living section is the local bar, it is made out of better material then the rest of the buildings due to it supplying heavy income as both a source of food and a place drink away the sad excuse of what these ponies call a life. There is also a small trading post a few blocks from the bar where all the travelers exchange their goods for either metal or supplies. The medics facility is closer to the metal works as to treat the inevitable injuries and heat strokes that are so frequent in such a place. The medical facility always accepts temporary workers due to the short handedness of such a necessary but underfunded and underappreciated facility. The metal works fits the name of being a hell hole, as the heat generated by the flames keeps the entire area in a sweltering heat making work as miserable as possible. Most of the ponies don’t actually know how to work the metal and just follow the routines and move the metal from one place to another letting the few actual mechanics do all the real work. The metal lord lives in a large iron structure elevated directly over the town with guards posted all around the perimeter, all armed with steam pistols and rifles at the ready. This is where your story begins._______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yay, we’re finally starting, but before we start I still need to lay down some ground rules. Most of which you already know and im repeating cuz….. I don’t know fuck it.1. No metagaming2. No godmodding- but for the first post you can start off wherever you like around this town, excluding the metal works (without good reason) and the Metal Lord’s overlook. Chow you can have first say of what the slavers are doing and saying but after this I’ll take control for further character interaction.3. Don’t mass post. However you can post more than once per round in the case that you enter into a conversation with another character but at least give a day between those posts in case another player wishes to interact with either of you while you are in the middle of conversation. This also gives everyone time to post so everything can happen and you can post more accurately to everything going on around you.4. Put atleast some effort into your posts. There is not a size requirement for each post but it really helps everyone if you give good context to actions and whatnot and good description helps in combat.5. Player killing is allowed, and you can initiate combat with eachother. Know what this means though and know the consequences to your actions.6. If you are unsure about something, ask me first. This is a completely new world that this is being set in, so I understand if there are things you don’t understand. I know I’ve probably left some things out and I will do my best to make this world as whole as possible.7. If you die in the game, you may rejoin the game if you wish by posting a new character in the sign-ups.8. Most importantly, have fun. Yes this is a dark survival RP set in a cruel and unforgiving setting…… but still, don’t let that dissuade you from having some fun with the RP as well. This is about you guys and not me. This is your story, so make it your own.

Zen is Co-GM of this game there will be times I may be busy for a while and unable to post and he has been given permission to post in my stead. He is also helping me develop the world some more as well so he knows a good bit about this world as well. There are a few things in this world that some of you may think are unfair but there is always a way out of any situation and my goal is not to kill you off, but I will challenge you. There are scenarios where there are no easy ways out, you may have to come up with plans that will span over the course of many posts before you can get out of particularly difficult situations. It is not difficult to die in this either, and one person’s mistake could even lead to an entire party wipe…. However these will be obvious mistakes that you will know not to make, so if someone makes that mistake blame them not me. Good luck, and have fun!

P.S. Sign-ups will remain in a semi-open state for late comers. Newcomers can only join if the group is in a town or a good starting place that is under my discretion. New comers will not be given favorable treatment and will only receive the starting selection and quality of the items given to the original sign-ups as they were at the start of the game.

Harun remained silent, eyes and head forward, not stopping to take in any surroundings. He hadn't spoken in days, Well, two days. He just kept moving, one leg after another. Eyes and weapons on him stopped him from making any move, that was even if he wished to. He was really stuck in his own head, rather too much given the situation he was in, which deserved a lot more thought than how he had gotten into it.

He'd gone through several feelings inside from frustration at himself to a forced state of positivity where he was 'sure' things would end up being fine. Not a speck of any of them bled through though. Harun was very hungry and thirsty, but he had yet to really noticed either. The numb burning sensation of air travelling down his throat was unnoticeable, as was the slight lurch of his mostly empty stomach. He remained distant and disconnected from his physical presence, just complying with whatever orders were thrown his way.

One of the slavers had gotten frustrated and hit him, but Harun was a big boy and could take a hit like that, and the one strike was all that was needed for the slaver to get it out of his system. Harun had pretty much walked it off, which was pretty creepy. Him being so quiet wasn't worth being stressed about too much though, he was pretty much free scrap metal to them. They'd done their job and whatever they could get for him was a bonus. It seemed he had misunderstood the terms he had agreed to. He stays alive and they take him as a slave was all they agreed to, but they certainly didn't want to waste time explaining the confusion.

The slaver looked behind him to his four companions, they had taken a diamond formation around the pony in the middle. They had much gear available for use a restraints, but nothing had really proved necessary. No fun. Their slave did seem like somewhat appealing stock,with his height and strength. Weaker ponies were far easier to get a hold of after all. Quiet was in a way another bonus, the pitch was formulating itself right now. Unless they saw a business that looked well of enough, or they were approached, the slow march through the trading post would continue as they made their way toward the Metal Lord’s overlook, as their was certainly quality metal there, even if it was a slightly intimidating place. With all the guards around it felt as though one wrong move, like pushing your product a little bit too hard would lead to bad things. He entertained the idea of doing another lap if the didn’t sell on the first one, with a little more aggressive marketing, and even the false promise of refund if unsatisfied

The creak of a door resounded out as a large figure strode out of the trading post. A few steps past the threshold, it paused to adjust the heavy pack it carried that despite just visiting the trader's post, was still weighed down with scavenged scrap that hadn't been traded and most of the other supplies he had. Now out of the dimly lit trading post and back into the bright unforgiving sun, the figure raised a large stone shield to block the harsh rays from it's one good eye and the other milky white one with a scar running vertically across it.

The two erect canine like ears near the top of his head swiveled about to listen to the sounds of the town, one with 3 piercings the middle of which had a small gem set in it while the other seemed to be missing a piece. As his eye fell on a decent sized group of ponies escorting another that nearly rivaled his own height, they lingered as new thoughts came to mind. This caused the diamond dog to pause for a moment, as he watched them slowly proceed to and then past the trading post and looked to be headed towards the local Metal Lord's keep. With a shrug, Krix changed his direction and strode towards the group, his heavy footfalls kicking up little bits of dust as he walked and the massive shield making an imposing bulwark for those on the opposite side of it.

As Krix approached the group, he took note of the weapons they had, and his apparent lack of one aside from the shield. Though with another adjustment to his satchel, Krix realized he could just swing that thing around as a makeshift weapon given that it weighed a good bit with all the stuff he currently had inside it, at least until one of the slavers went down and he could grab one of their weapons IF this became something of a fight. Once at the group though, Krix leaned forward to study Harun regardless of the slavers might have been saying. Some wounds were obvious, but the dog didn't see anything that'd be life threatening on the captive and he at least seemed to be in pretty good condition. Then Krix's mind went back to a couple of scrap runs he'd done in the past, the times he had to leave stuff behind because he simply couldn't carry it all and his eye fell back onto Harun. Pointing one large paw-like hand at the slave, Krix garbled out a single understandable word through his more canine muzzle and with his gravelly voice to the slavers, "Price?"

Veil sits in the back corner of the bar, fervently wishing she didn't loom over other ponies as much. As a Discordian, she was already a sought after prize. To those who knew of her medical expertise, she was practically a 'take-at-all-costs'. This left her feeling nervous and paranoid constantly, especially with Metal Lords nearby. She hadn't even had a drink, for fear of poison, and she would be leaving soon enough.

Her trusty bone saw and quiver rested at her side, with her bow strung across her back. Both the bow and the quiver were in desperate need of repairs. She had planned to see about trading in scrap and what little value she had been repaid in for her medical services, but with all the Metal Lords and Slavers around, her only thoughts now were how to get out of here without being spotted.

She sighs, stopping that line of thought. Regardless of her fears, she needed to get her gear repaired. Mustering up her courage, she strides out of the bar, and heads for the trading post. Perhaps a roundabout way would've been better, but in a small settlement like this, word would get around regardless, if word got around. No, better to get this done as fast as possible, then fly like hell.

____________________________"Why should I form an alliance when I can do it all by myself?""To allow you to live serves no purpose. Knowledge must be preserved, and I already have yours.""We are opposites.... And strong.""I'm on my way Sister."

"The South-Eastern Crossroads Way Station..." He'd mutter to himself, well not exactly to himself, but to something else, as if there were another entity next to him listening to him. "This place....it's...How can I put this nicely..." he spoke again as if trying to explain this Way station to this invisible entity that he spoke to. "...a shade? Yes, yes let us go with that a shade. I place for others to go and take shade....that smells unruly, and infested with all sorts of awful thing's left and right. Ew I think that pony there is oozing..." He stared off into the distance looking towards an actual pony that seemed to have a popped blister on one of his legs as he had walked across Heartstring's vision.

Heartstring shuddered a moment and shook his head. Heartstring has several large saddle bags he carried. He was use to the weight as his body was fit and strong, plus his augment did help some in making the metals feel lighter. But he was also wearing a hood cloak as well, so his bright coat wouldn't be seen by others unless they bothered to look underneath his hood. It was a pretty big hood to, due to the fact that he does have a longer than average unicorn horn so it had to cover that as well. He stopped in his tracks a moment, he was within the South-Eastern Way station, in the living section. There wasn't any reason for him to be in the metal section, at least any reason that wouldn't get him killed. His eyes scanned around himself as he got a good view of precisely where he was located and the major thing's he could see. The bar was the first easily identifiable location as it was the building in one of the best condition's compared to this, as Heartstring would say, rat's nest.

But what he was looking for in specific was the trader's outpost, he had something's he figured would be valuable to them, no he knew he had thing's that were valuable to them. So he wanted to trade for thing's he could actually use. Now what that was exactly....he wasn't sure. Could he get company for this? He heard from the last station he was at that it was entirely possible, but he couldn't find where he could buy company. Though when he asked about it several had laughed at him and told him to leave, which he promptly did, but now he seemed to have gotten a grasps of it. "Now remind me again what was that word we found them to be called?" He looked to his right again as if talking to another and then nodded his head. "right, right, Unruly company savage owners...wait, what? No, that wasn't it, it was a shorter word, I know it is." he stopped a hoof and smirked. "Slaver's. That is the correct term."

He would continue down the street, the same street the trader's outpost and the bar was on, but came to a slower halt as his ear's caught wind of some rather interesting noises. the shuffle of chains, the scuffing of multiple hooves trotting in unison, it rathered his attention and he turned his head to look at what brought these noises. He currently wasn't all that far from the trader's outpost when he saw the slavers trudging up the street with their current prize, a Saddle Arabian. Heartstring stared with curiosity and wonder in his eyes, that such a tall pony, no wait, Saddle Arabaian's weren't ponies....were they? He was confused a moment before shaking his head. Then that creaking noise of a door opening caught his attention and he looked to see a diamond dog, a big dog. Heartstring blinked a few times and took precisely three steps back and lowered his head some. "That is one big canine." he whispered.

It's not he hasn't seen them around, it's just always amused him whenever he saw bigger creatures. A smile crossed his lips as he took notice that Krix was watching the slavers as well. Shifting his eyes between the slavers and the dog his mind began to add things together. "Does he require company as well?" Because why else would someone want to buy a slave? When Krix had stopped the slavers to ask them the price, Heartstring would actually saunter over keeping exactly five feet to the side where Krix's milk eye sat. He watched and listened as well as he too was curious on the price of the slave that was there. He was cautious about speaking to others, especially those that looked like they dragged themselves out of a sewer, but his paranoia aside, he found this a need he had to get, but he knew he had to choose his words carefully. He couldn't speak to eloquently or else he'd make them mad for confusing them, but at the same time he couldn't speak to simple or else he'd aggravate himself and start arguing with himself. In the end he finally spoke up. "Yes, What is the price?"

The four slavers looked up at the massive dog that was approaching them with raised eyebrows, and a hint of alarm. They knew the guard would protect them over the dog any day but that thing was quite big and a bit intimidating. However, theres no way they would ever show that to something as lowly as an abnormally large mut. “Oi! Look it ‘ere mates. Looks like the doggy wants a snack.” The unicorn that had just smacked Harun a second ago said.

“Eh, what d’ya want boy. We ain’t got time for ya mut shit. So ya better make it fast before we gotta put yah sorry ass down, catch me? Or was ah speakin to fast fo yah, boy?” A largish earth pony , who was clearly the leader of these slavers, mocked. The pony was wearing a desperado hat along with gun belts and had a large steam rifle with what looked to be an a whole spear welded to it strapped to his back. He figured if he could provoke the Diamond Dog into attacking, the guards will kill the dog for them and then they could fetch some a few days’ worth of supplies off its pelt.

Then the dog said one word “Price” at first the ponies just looked at the diamond dog blinking unsure how to respond. Then they all started laughing at him uncontrollably. “Ya ‘ere dat boys. The doggy wants a pet! Isn’t dat adorable. Gun Smoke, wut do ya think about this ‘ere, eh?” The boss said to the unicorn that had spoken up earlier.

“Ah tink dat be a might ‘ilarious dere, boss. Mahbe we should ask ‘im to beg for it first, yah?” The Unicorn said giving the larger saddle Arabian a good smack in da ribs. “Ya ‘ear dat, lad. Looks like ya got ya firs buya already. How would’ou like ta be dat muts chew toy, eh? Whaddya tink boss? Should we skip da tax and sell em right ‘ere? Oi! Whats all dis den?” It was then that a certain red with blue maned unicorn stepped up near the Diamond dog demanding a price as well.

Before responding though, the boss noticed something walking out of the bar and it was something he’d never seen before. He didn’t even know how to describe this thing other than what he assumed was female. “Well, oh, well, oh well. It seems that demand is outweighing supply. You’re a popular boy, dat you are. Tell ya what, first of ya to get me whatever the fuck dat thing there is, gets to negotiate a discounted price wit me, eh? That seems fair don’t it? If ya don’t like it we’ll just take dis here merchandise over to our good metal lord above and get what we know is a decent price, yeah? Then we’ll take dat thing there for ourselves. When ya decided on wut y’all gonna do, ya can bring dat dere specimen back over to the tavern, and we’ll negotiate a price. We want her alive ya ‘ear.” With that the crude pony yanked on the Harun’s chain forcing him forward to follow him to the tavern just ahead.

Racism against other species is as common as slavery is now. Without any supreme power to spread the message of love and tolerate, the people of the wastes diverted to their base natures and will be little those they find different and scare them. While it is also true that with the change in environment, some new stereotypes have arisen as well. New stereotypes such as, griffons are always dusters; this one of course due to being that the remaining griffons have returned to to their primal instinct and are far more concerned about making themselves the top predator once again. Of course not all Griffons are dusters, but the majority are and a lot of those that aren’t still kill indiscriminately to prove their hunting prowess. Diamond dog stereotypes haven’t changed much however, thought to be remarkably stupid and greedy, and while they aren’t as commonly duster’s they still form raiding packs and steal and kill many ponies. Racism amongst various species of pony is not as common, although the pegasi do tend to believe themselves superior to the other two races. This has a lot to do with the unicorns now being very inept at magic. However, the earth ponies also believe that both species to be inept to surviving the wastes as the unicorns can barely do anything and the pegasi end up dead every time they run into the clouds.

Krix's gaze only shifted down towards the slavers when they repeated his question, his good eye shifting first towards the apparent boss, and then towards Gun Smoke as each one spoke their piece of insults towards him. This was nothing new though, and while they had their laughs, Krix just kept thinking to himself how long one would last under the weight of his tower shield. As they went on though, one of Krix's ears swiveled back towards his blind spot where the almost as tall as Heart was approaching. Krix wasn't about to turn away from the slavers though, wouldn't help business talk to piss them off by making it also look like he was ignoring them.

When the "boss's" attention was drawn towards the opening door, Krix's ears swiveled towards it as well to hear the exiting of a single being. Hearing the immediate terms, Krix nodded after turning about to get a look at the strange being. With a growl, Krix replied with the same slow, garbled voice, "I bring... thing, talk after." He didn't like these slavers, and didn't have much intention of leaving the strange creature with them, but if it'd get a price on the discussion table, then he'd try and bring the thing to them.

Still wordlessly, Krix proceeded towards Veil, entering the trading post after she did and striding right up to the strange being. Looking down upon Veil with his one good eye, Krix took a moment to study it. The strange combination of limbs all on a single creature, the long bladed tail, it was somewhat captivating to simply look at. Still, Krix had something of a job he'd agreed, in part, to do and he was going to at least try to do it. "Pony?" he addressed with a questioning statement to Veil, "come, with, me" he continued with the same heavy, slow, and garbled voice. While he talked, Krix kept his shield by his side, where it wouldn't be AS threatening, even though it was likely taller than the discordian herself and tried to look less threatening. Still despite all this effort to not be intimidating, Krix couldn't help but think his negotiating skills could use some work...

Harun's teeth grinded as he was struck, but other than that he did not flinch and tried to keep his head as high as it was. He was doing everything they asked, there was no reason for it other than them trying to salvage some entertainment from him. If it bruised it could be added to his small collection. Some of them were self inflicted. Most of the marks on his legs were from him diving at the ground when he was panicked in some way and felt the need to duck fast.

His senses by instinct followed those that were speaking, moving his head and eyes as was necessary. He may have had certain qualities that made him a little more noticeable, but it seemed as a warm body he was in demand by at least two people. Not the best reason to have people's attention

A diamond dog. Harun couldn't recall many fond memories of them. Way Stations tend to make everyone a little more civil though, with the threat of guards stepping into any fights. He had spoken and seemed to have some sense of style with his jewellery, so he was tame. It still would have been nice to know what his intent was. The slavers had said chew toy, but there were better ways of eating than throwing metal at slavers, right? If the slavers annoyed him too much, there was a chance they'd lose the business, and he had a pretty good of where he may end up if one of these two lost interest. The do agreed to the terms though, which gave him some relief at the possibility of being bought.

And who was that unicorn? He certainly seemed more striking and hard to forget than most of the other ponies, maybe it was how his colours clashed with each other mixed with a large height. Being surrounded by those taller than him even if only a little was an odd experience. He seemed to be holding back a little when he inquired about his price. Harun but that down to nerves. He certainly didn’t seem like a pony who had done this kind of a deal before. He’d observed the behaviours of regular customers of such product before, and he didn’t really fall in line with that.

It was a slight shock to him to feel his front legs being pulled along, but he tried to be dignified and not stumble. He'd have walked along anyway, since there was nothing to said for resisting. There were two who were maybe willing to help, but who wanted a disobedient slave? If this was going to be his life now no matter his choice in it, he could at least try to be decent at his job until the right moment came. The terms the slavers had set had made him uncomfortable, This was more a slap to his spirit. For him to leave these guys behind there had to be a replacement found for him. He wanted to lower his head and sigh, but that was letting them win, it felt a little like that to him at least.

Oh those bumbling rapscallions! The nerve of they to think that Heartstring would allow such a thing to pass. He felt this a slap to his intelligence, the only thing he, personally, felt was anything close to pride he had in this world. Well these were just a few thoughts that rolled through his mind, on the outside he kept a rather calm and light hearted appearance on his face, it could easily be recognized as 'blind innocence'. Hearing the terms that they needed to come to just to get a negotiation price?! Oh, the nerve of they. "Well then..." he mumbled to himself as he lowered his head and his ears dropped and his mind was racing coming together with an idea.

His head soon lifted upon hearing the deep, gargled voice of the Diamond Dog and he could only sigh. Oh what a poor thing, can't even speak properly...such a shame. Properly or not, the word choices he picked were well placed. But...maybe that is all that is needed for dealing with these bumbling buffoons? A smile perused his lips as the thought of it and quickly he just shook head head. "Nay, I couldn't stand for such language." he uttered to himself under his breath.

During the time that the Boss had taken to look at the Discordian that walked out of the bar, Heartstring glanced over the six, would be seven if you included Krix, bodies that were there. Looking them over and taking mental note of the thing's he saw. The item's that were visible, the species that they were, well the ones that he actually knew the names of that is. Those that he didn't know of, he tended to make up words for them, and they probably stuck even after he learned of them. There was a Unicorn among the pack and the leader was a earth pony, quite a odd thing for that to be, at least Heartstring found it odd, maybe it was because he was a Unicorn and knew of their capabilities. Wait...are you saying that he's an idiot? He asked himself this surprised rhetorical question.

Heartstring compared to most ponies was quite tall, so there was a chance that he towered over most, so that made him someone really hard to forget. So he made it a habit to wear his cloak as often as he could to at least hide his appearance someone, though he knew that did nothing to change his height, but any little bit helped as he saw it.

The Diamond Dog had gone on ahead to go a capture the 'freaky thing' that the slavers wanted. He watched him go on and tilted his head. "he's actually gonna fetch it?" he blinked confused, surely the Diamond dog can't be that stupid? "Maybe they have an uncontrollable need to fetch?" He questioned and laughed to himself and looked to the side. "That's quite a idiotic theory, don't you think? Yeah, you're right, I don't come up with idiotic theories." He would chuckle and allow the Diamond Dog to go on and bring the girl. He had other plans that involved the tavern, well actually.

He smirked and eyed the slavers as they went on to the tavern and he himself would move following after the diamond dog, this time however instead of standing on the side of his milky eye, he would stand on the opposite side. He had an amusing idea, but for it to happen, he would in fact use the Diamond Dog to make it happen, but for that to happen, he would need both the Diamond Dog and the Discordian to be in the tavern again. He would be exactly five feet from Krix again. He wouldn't say a word, not just yet, he wanted to see if his garbled improper speak actually worked. This is what scientists call Observation.

Veil takes one look at Krix, and runs. Tartarus take this place, they had seen her. No time to run, to bargain, anything. The only option is to leave as fast as possible, and that's what she would do. She notices the dog, but has taken off long before he comes near her. She doesn't run quite quick enough to miss being called a 'pony' however. 'Discordian! Not a pony!'

She's tempted to take to the skies, but no.... They'd probably shoot her down, and there was no point in making her a target for everyone. She tries to shift her gear around as she runs, getting it ready for a fight. Turning a corner, she jumps into a low glide before coming to an alleyway. They wouldn't take her. Once was enough, and Veil certainly wasn't about to be enslaved yet again on some moron's whim.

She ran, she actually ran the moment she saw the Diamond Dog move in her direction. Oh this was just priceless and Heartstring found the amusement of it as he had walked up next to Krix during his attempt to negotiate. When he came up next to Krix, still standing exactly five feet from Krix on the side of his good eye. "You know..." he started as he looked at the Diamond Dog. "Please might have helped you there." He stated it calmly with no means to insult him.

Though with a smile still plastered upon his face as he watched the direction the Discordian went. "After you..." he stated as he held a hoof out in the direction where the Discordian went. He was purposely going to let the Diamond Dog move ahead of him. Of course he would follow afterwards, if Krix decided to give chase.

Krix's ears perked up when the strange thing took off running and at first he just watched it try and flee. Then when Heart spoke up, the dog turned a one eye'd glare towards the strangely tall pony and growled briefly. "No, good, words," he grumbled out before refocusing on the fleeing Discordian. A single good sniff was about all it took for Krix to know where to go and soon he was off at a decent clip, the large shield handled well despite the fairly large weight offset it would present, which clearly showed his long standing use and familiarity with the thing.

Following the Discordian around the corner, Krix raised his massive shield before proceeding down the alleyway. Seeing the thing now trapped, Krix slowed his pace, but kept the shield raised defensively. "No, run," Krix grumbled out before pausing for a moment and then added, "please?" Krix slowly proceeded to get closer to the creature but stopped a couple feet from it. "Listen, follow, Krix......... please?" Each 'please' Krix forced out sounded even more struggled than the rest of his words, but he said them none-the-less.

Veil finds herself backed in an alleyway, internally banging her head against a wall. 'Stupid, stupid!' She listens to the Diamond Dogs words as she looks over the situation. "i'm sorry, but I won't be a slave, never again!" She cries, before flapping her wings to get herself over the alley wall. She doesn't fly, so much as use her wings to get her some lift while her claws keep her firmly attached to the wall. Anything else, and she'd have bullets flying in her direction from all across the Way station. Her tail lashes back and forth as she does so, providing balance as she scrambles over the wall.

Once she was over it, she'd keep running, and hopefully make it to the outer wall. 'After that, I'll hopefully have some more room to maneuver, maybe even take off into the skies again.'

____________________________"Why should I form an alliance when I can do it all by myself?""To allow you to live serves no purpose. Knowledge must be preserved, and I already have yours.""We are opposites.... And strong.""I'm on my way Sister."

Kings was good at hiding in crowds. They had a sort of natural knack for it. First off, they were short. Next... well, really, they were just short. But it helped! Nobody ever seemed to look down. Though it was a bit offset by the stupid eyes and all the bottles that clinked when they ran.

Kings was utilizing this shortness to the best of his ability, watching a few potential subjects. They always kept an eye out for slavers. But not for the slaves, no. Slaves were boring. Slavers, now, they had some interesting brains. Selective empathy, power delusions, coping mechanics, the list went on. But watching the slavers, something more interesting came up. A real diamond dog! Without a pack! Kings switched targets nearly immediately, carefully following the dog. They tried to blend in with whatever crowd they could find, but again, their only real advantage was short. Being short.

Kings watched as long as they could as Dog talked to Slavers. They couldn't hear the conversation, but they decided to focus on body language for a while. The conversation went something like stoic dog, laughing slavers, red pony, dog leaves. Kings kept following so they could see what was happening. Not too close, though. There was a very strange... thing, that dog was heading towards. Dog speaks, thing flies away, dog starts run- oh no.

After a brief mental debate, Kings elected to follow the dog. This could be an excellent opportunity for science! A packless dog and a... thing! They ran, forgoing their stealth for an opportunity to keep track of what was happening. The stop was in an alleyway, and Kings didn't have much choice where to stand so they could see what was happening. (Which, at the moment, seemed to be the thing saying things about slavery and trying to leave. Interesting. Was dog a slaver?) They'd be noticable, sure, but they figured you'd have to be a special kind of observational and paranoid to notice. Or just have seen them running. Damn.

Heartstring had taken mental note of how quick the diamond dog had moved even with that massive rock he carried. Impressive... he pondered to himself as he only grinned and muttered to himself while looking at the ground. "he plays fetch...oh joyous days." It was almost a squeal as if finding out such news was a fantastic thing for him. Maybe it was just the thought of a dog actually playing fetch resonating with something in mind? Or it was just simply funny? Who knows.

When Heartstring would give chase as well keeping Krix well within his line of sight, he had also taken notice of something that was giving chase as well, something that just out of the corner of his eye was moving rather quickly. Though he couldn't pay too much mind to it as he needed to catch up to Krix. Even with his saddle bags in tow, Heartstring moved fairly quickly. It's a given for him to move quick with his equipment due to constantly carrying it around whenever he moved from place to place. You couldn't just leave something stashed out in the wasteland, someone would end up finding it. So if you needed to keep something safe, you either had to put it in a spot that only you can reach or carry it on you.

Heartstring had caught up with Krix just as he stated 'please' the second time. "Great for you, you got a kind response." Heartstring congratulated the diamond dog as he would quickly trot past him and look towards the Discordian who turned her backs on them in her attempt to get away. "Many great apologies..." as he spoke his horn would feintly glow and a magical energy field would surround the wings of the Discordian. "...But your assistance is quite the necessity." with his magic wrapped around her wings he'd harshly pull her off the wall aiming to slam her back into the ground and hold her wings against the floor.

Krix shifted his shield back to his side when the pony restrained the Discordian. For the moment, he just stood there stoically while Heartstring talked and had the strange thing held. Then Krix strode forward a bit while being mindful of the Discordian's spiked tail. When he got within reach, Krix would grab the strange spiked appendage and tuck it between his shield arm and his side where it was held securely before reaching down with the other free paw like hand to scoop up the Discordian, the powerful arm wrapping around her wings where the telekinesis was. The grip wasn't tight, but rather snug and firm as the dog looked back towards Heart. "Go, talk, price," Krix said before turning the rest of the way around and beginning to head towards the Tavern.

Veil yelps as she's roughly pulled off the wall by her wings and smashed into the ground. She tries to scramble up to her feet, but her wings pull painfully, still stuck to the ground. "Hsssss.... Let. Me. Go. You. Slaver!" She growls out through gritted teeth, her Discordian eyes glaring balefully at Krix and Heart. She unfortunately couldn't impale them on her tail spikes, as her tail was crammed up against the wall. She hissed angrilly, knowing that if the Unicorn was strong enough to rip her off the wall, she could probably hold her in place for awhile. She lashes her tail at Krix, trying to stab him through the chest. Her tail still tries to batter him as he pins it under his arm, and she squirms and struggles as he pins her to his chest."Grrrrrr..... Let me go!"

____________________________"Why should I form an alliance when I can do it all by myself?""To allow you to live serves no purpose. Knowledge must be preserved, and I already have yours.""We are opposites.... And strong.""I'm on my way Sister."

Heartstring had gotten a better view of their target when he had slammed her into the ground and held her down in place. He tilted his head and started being able to get a better look of the body make up and see that it was different parts of different species combined together to make up this, as scientists would put it, fine specimen. He would blink at being called a slaver and then look at Krix and then began to laugh, still holding her down with his magic. "Oh my, that was quite the laugh." he uttered. "and I thought the high-light of my day was going to witness the game of fetch." he uttered as well. "Well thankfully for you, I am not a Slaver." he added looking at her.

His eyes then shifted towards Krix who walked over and grabbed her and securely pinned her within his bulky arms. He gave a pretty happy smile as he stomped his hooves against the ground a few times. "Oh joyous day." he stated happily as well.

Once the Diamond Dog had a good hold of the Discordian, Heartstring would release his magical hold on her. Krix said three short words and Heartstring had only chuckled at it and looked at the discordian. "Many apologies for this bulky fellow. He means no harm, and neither do I. As I stated mere second's earlier if you weren't paying attention because I unceremoniously stripped you from the wall and held you to the ground. Oh that was quite the rush." he just kept talking and looked at Krix. "Is that why slaver's go after others?" Well honestly it was a rhetorical question and he didn't want an answer and shook his head. "that is a question for another time, but worry not. I'll make sure you get out of this alive. well unless that means me dying in the process, then I shall apologize to you in advance, I need to survive, Bomb Shell told me so. Isn't that right?" he looked to his side where there was nothing at all and then just nodded his head. "Yes, yes that's right. She does look a little thin. She needs to eat more." he commented about the discordian.

Upon following Krix and moving back up the alley, Heartstring did take notice of the other being that was there. He locked eyed with the small pony and gazed down at him. "well isn't that cute."

Last edited by Heartstring on Mon Dec 01, 2014 6:13 am; edited 1 time in total

Veil stops thrashing for a moment, only staring at Heartstrings in utter confusion. Internally, her scientist's mind is desperately trying to make sense of everything Heart just said, and has diverted thought from the rest of Veil to try and parse that sentence. So far, all she had made sense of was that she might not be enslaved and this strange pony thought she was scrawny. "...I-... you-.... bwuh?" is the most she can get out. This pony made no sense. Though based on what Heart was saying, it was safe to assume he was working with the dog.

____________________________"Why should I form an alliance when I can do it all by myself?""To allow you to live serves no purpose. Knowledge must be preserved, and I already have yours.""We are opposites.... And strong.""I'm on my way Sister."

Diamond was sharply awoken by the sound of something landing nearby, probably about thirty feet away. She stood up and stretched a bit, then winced and cursed something about an arm under her breath. She followed the noise, out of the shanty she had been sleeping in and stopping about fifteen feet away from the source of the noise. She glanced over and saw a gigantic unicorn, one that dwarfed her in size, and a strange looking pony. Another exotic like her. She ducked and hid when she saw the Diamond Dog, making a large amount of noise in the process, and watched from around the corner as he took a hold of the strange pony from the gigantic unicorn. It was a strange sight indeed. She decided to tail them once they got moving, though keeping up and staying quiet would hard due to her gait caused by the artificial arm and some of her equipment. She listened closely while not getting too close for them to (hopefully) detect her. This can't be good. Nothing I can really do but try.

The traders door quietly opens as the Golden pegasi steps outward onto the street. There had been rumors that a job could be found for his line of work, unfortunately it was just that, a rumor. The only thing he got out of this trip was a few extra bullets he managed to haggle, and a headache. From this spot he saw the group of 4 slavers around that diamond dog ' Ugh, slavers...' one of the few things that disgusted him, anyone who thought they had the right to sell another living being was trash to him. He'd be doing the world a favor by disposing of them, but the metal lords wouldn't appreciate that at all. Better not to anger one, more harm than good would come from that.

Leaning up against the wall and watching out on the street he could see the almost comedic chase scene headed toward the alley, he can't help but give a small smirk at the simplicity of it. Deciding instead to follow the slavers into the tavern. Heading to the bar itself to grab a drink, and paying the bartender, he took his drink toward a small table close enough to the slavers to hear what they were discussing as he idly sipped away.

The four slavers along with Harun enter the tavern loudly chatting among themselves loudly. "Oi! Boss ah can't believe those two were actually that stupid. It almost makes ya feel bad for em, eh? Hahahaha!" Gun Smoke called out as the boss and the two others, another earth pony and another unicorn, as they sat down at a table near the middle of the room.

"Aye, Smoke. It seems what dey say bout dem dogs is true. Ah guess they do have a compulsive need to fetch. Right den, barkeep bring me and the lads whatever the fuck this shithole has got, and might as well water the merchandise while your at it, dont give em too much though, we aim to get as much profit as we can off this piece of ass." The boss called out to the bartender at the front of the room. Like all the buildings the tavern was of course made of sheet metal, but it was a bit more polished, and the tables were made of a hardened plastic substance with a metal wire frame. The bar itself was made out of polished stone with intersecting metal bits to hold it together. There were 5 other ponies in the room as well, 2 were sitting at opposite ends of the bar itself while there was another 2 at a table near the right side of the door and the 5th was sitting at a table near the staircase on the left front side of the room looking like he was passed out. The room was pretty barren but there was an upstairs with 3 rooms for the taverns nightly side business as well. The beds though were just a heap of rags made of the same brittle material as the clothing was.

The bartender rolled his eyes and nodded as he started pouring the wheat beer they were able to make out of the only crop this Way Station was able to produce that was found in a patch a couple miles away. Next to the bar and leading to the stairwell was a bulletin board for available jobs in the area. There were only two bounties up right now but both of which last sightings were no where near this Way-Station. The bounties are really high value with one wanted alive and the other dead, and it appeared the bounties were probably mass posts and could probably found at any Way Station. After finishing pouring the drinks and making a small bowl of water for Harun, the bartender handed off the platter to a mare who appeared to be a waitress of sorts, who immediately gave the bartender a pleading look of mercy. The bartender ignored her and waved the earth pony mare off.

"Oi! Boys it looks like we're gettin a meal with our drinks, eh? Ello, darlin. Whats your name?" The mare went to Harun first to give him his water, giving the large stallion a pitiful glance as she felt bad for him a bit before going to the round table the foursome of slavers sat at and quickly started putting down their drinks. However, the unicorn Gun Smoke grabbed her before she could leave though.

"Now where do ya think yer off ta, sweetheart. We just want ta do a bit a celebratin, we jus brought ina big score, and another be on er way now, yeah. Stay a while and drink wit us." Gun Smoke taunted as he pulled her close and held her down with his magic.

Golden sits in his chair watching the injustice, in another world he wouldn't mind putting a bullet through their heads now, but all that would do is just lead to more problems that he had no rhyme nor reason to get involved with. Better to just try and keep his wits about him. Getting up and acting threatening would only result in violence. Looking around the mostly quiet tavern he realized nobody would help this serving mare.

Rolling his eyes, he raises the glass up to lips and simply lets it slide out of his hooves knocks his glass off the table making a very audible crash, "Oh god damnit!" his voice raised to distract the slavers with the commotion even for a moment, if this mare was wanted to get away, she'd hopefully have the sense to try now "Your mare here let it slide down the glass, not my fault she can't carry a drink straight" he says to the bartender putting a bit on the table he sighs "Can you have her get me a new one, and this time, don't spill it" hoping his years of acting on the streets will pay off now

There usually has to be a certain level of care one usually has to have to even deal with things in the worst possible ways. It's arguable that there's even a certain level of care to even acknowledge things, and right now Krix was bordering that level of care. He barely had enough care in him to acknowledge what the thing he had under his arms was saying, though being called a slaver did force him to arch an eyebrow as he wondered why she'd assume that. After all, the slavers had obviously made fun of him and it had taken a far greater level of care than he currently had not to squish them.

Either way, Krix was only managing enough care to give the strangely tall unicorn that had decided to accompany him a nod when he managed to say a few things that got the discordian to stop struggling so much. Without the constant struggling, Krix even loosened his grip some, obviously not enough for the thing to escape but a little to make the trip slightly more comfortable. That however doesn't mean Krix had enough care to bother with the regular sized pony trying to sneakily follow him after his interaction with the slavers, the other one that had just started watching with the strange sounding gait, or the one that had taken one look at him earlier and then went to the tavern. For poor old Krix, what should have been a simple talk, had now taken far more effort than it should have, he even had a light bruise forming from where he'd caught the things tail along the broad side of his chest. Regardless, Krix just continued his slow and heavy stride back to the bar, slowing somewhat when he noticed that the tall pony wasn't following immediately. His thoughts being that he'd be helpful in the price talks since with a just a few words, he'd managed to get the thing to stop struggling so much.

With the extra time, Krix's gaze and attention shifted back to the Discordian. "You, name?" Krix asked with his deep and gravely voice. "Slave, before?" he asked as a follow up question, possibly even going so far as to stop while he waited for Heart to catch up and resume following.

Veil notes with surprise the grip slackening. Granted, she knew as well as the diamond dog it wouldn't be enough to escape, but it did lend a little bit more credence to their claims of not being slavers. She also notes with a small amount of vindictive satisfaction the bruise forming from where she'd hit him. Grumbling at the bouncing caused by his heavy strides, she tries to make herself as possibly as one can when being grappled by a diamond dog. At least until she hears him speak to her. After waiting a moment to see if it was directed at the cheating magic pony, she goes over what he said mentally before replying. "I am Lunatic Veil, ex slave and medic for the Yip Blaze duster tribe." She says, before inquiring "Are you working with the unicorn?" Having said her peace, she settles back in, awaiting his reply.She notes with some interest the loud, clankey thing following them. No visible weapons, but they were probably one of sixteen under the cloak. No one in the wastes was unarmed, ever. She soon lost interest, since her captor had clearly noticed the clankey pony and she couldn't really fire her bow or use her bone saw very well in his hold.